The hataras nedarim of Erev Rosh Hashanah starts with "Listen now my masters, expert judges" ("שמעו נא רבותי, דיינים מומחים"). In practice, these judges are usually ordinary people. So why do we make ...

Rosh Hashana is the only festival celebrated for two days even in Jerusalem, since there was a possibility that witnesses for the new moon would come in the middle of the day and the Beis Din would ...

Last year I started using the Koren machzorim and I realized that the Ashkenaz editions use the wrong Shochen Ad. In most other machzorim, the section "B'fi Yisharim" forms acrostics of the names of ...

The Gra was quoted to me (I think from the Aderes Eliyah, but I'm not sure) as saying that during the shofar blowing on Rosh HaShanna a person should be in a state of simcha and chedva.
I would like ...

Last week, someone quoted a halacha in shul about blowing shofar on Rosh Hashanah if it's not for the mitzvah. He said that it's recommended not to, but if someone really wants to, they should blow ...

One of the Simanim brought to eat on Rosh Hashana is a Ram's head. It isn't very popular, I assume due to availability, but one year they had them (well, a lamb's head) in the local store, but I was ...

I am using MS Excel together with VBA (Visual Basic for applications) to write macros to calculate Molad Tishrei.
I have located information in various web sites that explain how to calculate Molad ...

There is no direct mitzvah to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanna. The mitzvah is to hear the shofar blown. It seems that this mitzvah is phrased "causativly". In order to hear the sound, someone has to ...

What does one need to know in order to properly perform a private shofar-blowing for someone who cannot make it to Shul on Rosh Hashana?
There are many details of how the shofar blowing is conducted ...

One person made the bracha and blew some blasts. Then, for some reason, he is physically unable to blow the rest. Can someone else complete the job?
Does it matter if the switch happens in the middle ...

It says in Rosh Hashana
" On the New Year, [first of Tishrei] all who have entered the earth
pass before Him, one by one, like young sheep, as it says: “He that fashioned the
heart of them all, Who ...

Regarding the chagim (festivals), we know that a chag is really one day (not including the rabbinic chag a/k/a yom tov sheini). However, for Rosh hashana, Israelis observe a two day festival. So is ...

Ezra declared that the curses in Vayikra be read before Shavuos and those in Devarim before Rosh HaShanna (megillah 31b), how was that accomplished by those in Eretz Yisrael who had a triennial system ...

I have heard anecdotally that a world class chazzan can make nearly $100,000 for leading the services on Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur. I don't know exactly how to confirm this but I am trying to find ...

Many people have the Minhag to eat Taigalach on Rosh Hashana. To the best of my knowledge Taigalach is made with walnuts. How does this jive with the Minhag not to eat nuts on Rosh Hashana since Egoz ...

After paying a trip to the Natural History Museum in London I found myself wondering... would it be allowed (to any extent) to use a shofar of an animal that has kosher simanim but is extinct? There ...

I have heard that the reason we do not Bench Rosh Chodesh Tishrei is in order to confuse the Satan. Now the Satan is no fool. How is the Satan getting confused when we pull this trick year after year?
...

The Biur Halacha in Siman 299 brings an interesting opinion from the Magen Avraham. If someone was fasting (and had taken on to fast for a few days) and wasn't able to make havdallah Motzei Shabbos ...

Originally, Yizkor was said on Yom Kippur and only later was it extended to Shelosh Regalim. Why was it not said on Rosh Hashanah which is Yom Hazikkoron? It would seem more appropriate to say it then ...

The two days of Rosh Hashanah are considered as one day (Yoma Arichta), so why do we say Shehecheyanu when we blow the Shofar on the second day? Moreover even if we somehow view it as two days, why ...

Where does the inyan of davening with a Tzaddik on Rosh HaShanah come from? Where did it start? Was there ever such a minhag before chassidus come along? (Assuming it started with the Chassidim -- my ...

There is a custom of eating an apple dipped in honey on first night of Rosh HaShanah (among the other foods) as a sign that we should have a sweet year. Why is this done specifically with an apple and ...